University of Applied Sciences and Arts LucerneSwitzerland
Prof. Dr. Frank Ulbrich is a Lecturer and Programme Director for the BSc Business Administration at the Lucerne School of Business (HSLU). He holds a PhD in Business Administration from the Stockholm School of Economics. His academic career spans roles at universities in Sweden, the UK, Canada, and Switzerland, alongside IT & Management consulting experience. Research focuses on management education, project management, information management, and organizational change. He has published extensively in areas like shared services, digital transformation, and curriculum development. Notable awards include multiple Emerald Literati Awards and a Fellowship from the Higher Education Academy. Education: PhD in Business Administration (Stockholm School of Economics) Affiliations: Institute of Business and Regional Economics at HSLU Teaching Subjects: Academic Methods, Higher Education Management, Project Management, Digital Transformation Recent presentations include discussions on bridging academia-industry gaps, curriculum integration of SDGs, and data-driven learning strategies. His work emphasizes aligning education with labor market needs and advancing evidence-based teaching practices.
Stefan Bechtold is a Full Professor of Intellectual Property at ETH Zurich since 2013 and Associate Vice President IP Policy (2023–2026). He is affiliated with the ETH AI Center and serves on global advisory boards including the Academic Advisory Board of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. His interdisciplinary research bridges law, economics, and computer science.
Myriam Dunn Cavelty serves as Deputy Head of Research and Teaching at the Center for Security Studies (CSS) at ETH Zurich, where she leads significant academic initiatives in cybersecurity and digital governance. She holds formal affiliations as an associate researcher at the Center for Advanced Security Theory at the University of Copenhagen, and has held prestigious visiting positions at Brown University, the University of Darmstadt (as a Mercator Fellow), and the Central European University. Her research expertise centers on how digital technologies influence political behavior and societal values, with particular attention to governance arrangements for digital technologies and their embedding in social, political, and economic processes. Her scholarly contributions span cybersecurity politics, cyber warfare, critical infrastructure protection, and strategic foresight, reflecting an interdisciplinary approach that bridges political science, international relations, and technology studies. Dunn Cavelty's publication record demonstrates remarkable consistency and impact, with works spanning from 2008 to the present. Her research shows an evolution from early analyses of cyber-threat construction to contemporary examinations of AI in security contexts and the political dimensions of cybersecurity governance. Her work consistently addresses the intersection of technological capabilities and political constraints, examining how states and other actors navigate security challenges in the digital domain. Mercator Fellow at the University of Darmstadt Editor-in-Chief of Contemporary Security Policy Advisory work for governments, international institutions, and corporations As an academic leader, she has advised numerous doctoral students and supervised research projects examining the political dimensions of cybersecurity. Her work with the Center for Security Studies involves directing research programs that connect academic inquiry with policy relevance, particularly in the areas of risk analysis and strategic foresight. She has established herself as a leading voice in European cybersecurity scholarship, with particular expertise in the Swiss context and broader European security frameworks.
Gerold Schneider is an Associate Professor at the University of Zurich , affiliated with the Department of Computational Linguistics under the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and Faculty of Business, Economics and Informatics . He leads the Text Crunching Center (TCC) , focusing on interdisciplinary research at the intersection of NLP, Digital Humanities, and Health Data Science. Research Interests His work spans Text Analytics , Digital Humanities , Corpus Linguistics , and Health Data Science , with applications in: Biomedical NLP (e.g., Alzheimer’s detection, clinical trials) Digital Humanities projects (e.g., analyzing Charles Dickens, UN archives) Migration discourse framing across languages Adversarial data collection for hate speech detection Interdisciplinary methodologies for digital unstructured data Recent Publications 2025–2024 research highlights include annotated corpora for preclinical and neurological studies, AI-driven analysis of historical linguistic variation, and innovative tools for language learners. His NLP applications address health diagnostics, ethical AI, and cross-lingual political discourse. Labs & Teams As TCC leader, he spearheads collaborative projects within the Digital Society Initiative (DSI) communities (AI & Law, Health, Ethics, etc.), integrating computational methods with humanities and health research.
Barton Lee is an Assistant Professor (tenure track) and Chair of Political Economy & eDemocracy at the Department of Management, Technology, and Economics (D-MTEC) of ETH Zurich . He holds an Affiliate Fellowship with the Stigler Center at Chicago Booth and was a Junior Research Fellow at Magdalen College, University of Oxford (2021–2022). Dr. Lee earned his PhD in Economics from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in 2021, following a visiting year at Harvard University (2018–2019). Current Role : Asst. Prof (TT) + Chair, ETH Zurich Affiliations : Stigler Center (Chicago Booth), UNSW Resilient Democracy Lab Research Focus : Political Economics, Applied Theory Dr. Lee investigates democratic fragility through lenses of legislative gridlock , technocratic governance , and populist voter behavior . His work connects economic policy with political institution design , often employing formal modeling and empirical analysis . Notable projects include studies on the feedback loops between polarization and policy failure and adaptive strategies in autocratic regimes . He actively contributes to academic networks via personal website and Google Scholar , and engages in collaborative workshops such as the 2025 IAST/TSE Workshop on Political Economy of Autocratic Rule . Dr. Lee also advocates for academic positions like the Professor of Health Economics role at ETH Zurich. Scientific Awards: Affiliate Fellow, Stigler Center (2021–present) Junior Research Fellow, Magdalen College, Oxford (2021–2022) Dr. Lee's recent work explores intersections between technology , democracy , and economic theory , with active participation in conferences and mentoring networks across Europe and Australia.
Christoph Stadtfeld is Associate Professor of Social Networks at ETH Zurich's Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences and co-director of the ETH Social Networks Lab. His research examines social network dynamics, focusing on tie formation processes, network effects on individuals, and advanced statistical methodologies for longitudinal network analysis. Education: PhD from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (2011) Postdoctoral researcher and Marie-Curie fellow at University of Groningen, University of Lugano, and MIT Media Lab (2011-2014) His work bridges sociology, statistics, and computer science to address fundamental questions about how social structures evolve and influence behavior. Key interests include relational event modeling, co-evolution of networks and attributes, and applications in mental health, political polarization, and scientific collaboration. He develops innovative methods for analyzing dynamic networks using cutting-edge computational approaches. Recent publications reveal strong emphasis on methodological rigor in temporal network analysis, with significant contributions to relational event modeling and dynamic network actor frameworks. His work increasingly addresses societal challenges including political polarization, mental health impacts of social isolation, and innovation dynamics in healthcare. Scientific awards: Raymond Boudon Award of the European Academy of Sociology (2017) Freeman Award of the International Network for Social Network Analysis (2021) As co-director of the ETH Social Networks Lab, Stadtfeld leads interdisciplinary research teams developing novel network methodologies. His work has been supported by prestigious fellowships including Marie-Curie funding, and he actively mentors graduate students in network science methodology and applications across diverse domains. The ETH Social Networks Lab serves as a hub for advancing network theory and methodology, with ongoing projects examining student networks during crises, scientific collaboration dynamics, and innovation ecosystems through the lens of network science.
René M. Stulz is the Everett D. Reese Chair of Banking and Monetary Economics at The Ohio State University's Max M. Fisher College of Business , where he also serves as Director of the Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics . He has held academic positions at MIT, University of Chicago, and University of Rochester. Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology Marvin Bower Fellowship (Harvard Business School) Doctorat Honoris Causa (University of Neuchâtel) Risk Manager of the Year (Global Association of Risk Professionals) His research spans corporate finance , financial institutions , and asset pricing , with recent work on unicorns , cyberattack economic impacts , and banking regulation . His articles show expertise in market volatility , governance , and financial globalization . Stulz has won multiple scientific awards and served as editor of the Journal of Finance and Journal of Financial Economics . He consults for the IMF , World Bank , and major financial institutions , and has testified in federal/state courts .
Aileen Nielsen is a Ph.D. Candidate at ETH Zurich's Center for Law & Economics and a Fellow in Law & Tech. She holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, a B.A. in Anthropology from Princeton University, and advanced degrees in Applied Physics (Columbia) and Comparative Human Development (University of Chicago). Her research focuses on regulatory and judicial responses to technological innovation, particularly in AI governance, data privacy, and medical technology. She has practiced law in NYC and worked in tech startups across healthcare and political organizations. Education: Ph.D. Candidate (ETH Zurich), J.D. (Yale), M.S. Applied Physics (Columbia), M.A. Comparative Human Development (Chicago), B.A. Anthropology (Princeton) Her work combines empirical and experimental methods to address challenges like algorithmic fairness, AI liability in medicine, and public perceptions of data markets. Recent findings explore regulatory frameworks for AI systems and the ethical implications of algorithmic surveillance. She teaches courses on algorithms and fairness, law & tech research, and authentication security. Publications span law journals, cybersecurity white papers, and AI ethics conferences, with a focus on balancing innovation with societal accountability. Her books Practical Fairness and Practical Time Series Analysis further bridge technical and legal domains.
Pascal Sciarini is a Full Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Geneva, where he has been a faculty member since 2005. He currently serves as Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences since July 15, 2022, and previously directed the Department of Political Science and International Relations from 2005 to 2010 and again from 2015 to 2017. He has also held academic positions at the University of Basel and IDHEAP in Lausanne. Doctorate in Political Science Professor at University of Basel, IDHEAP Lausanne, and University of Geneva Dean of Faculty of Social Sciences (2022–present) Director, Department of Political Science and International Relations (2005–2010, 2015–2017) His research focuses on Swiss politics, political behavior, comparative politics, direct democracy, Europeanization, and decision-making processes. He has published extensively on Swiss political institutions, electoral behavior, and the impact of European integration on non-EU countries. His work often combines quantitative analysis with comparative perspectives. The most recent articles reflect a strong focus on electoral behavior in direct democracies, media and parliamentary agenda-setting, Europeanization, and the methodological challenges of survey research in political science. His publications frequently appear in top journals such as European Journal of Political Research , West European Politics , and Electoral Studies , and he contributes to major reference works like The Oxford Handbook of Swiss Politics . Scientific Awards and Honors: President, Swiss Political Science Association (2018–2021) Member, SNSF Scholarship Commission (2011–2018) Member, Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences (ASSH) Committee (2011–2018) Founder and President, Doctoral Program in Political Science of Western Switzerland (2005–2018) Sciarini has supervised several doctoral and master’s students and has been involved in numerous research projects analyzing opinion stability, campaign effects, and e-voting. He has led or contributed to major research reports on political participation, electoral reform, and parliamentary behavior in Switzerland. His work underscores the evolving nature of Swiss consensus democracy amid increasing partisanship, mediatization, and European influence. Laboratories and Research Teams: He has been central to the Swiss Political Science research community and has collaborated extensively with scholars at the University of Geneva and beyond, particularly through the Department of Political Science and International Relations and the Doctoral Program in Political Science of Western Switzerland.
Vesa Pursiainen is an Associate Professor at the School of Business and Economics , University of St. Gallen (SBF-HSG). His research focuses on corporate finance, fintech, environmental economics, crowdfunding, and behavioral finance, with a particular emphasis on how technology, social dynamics, and crises impact financial decisions and market behavior.
Dr. Sara Kijewski is a Lecturer at ETH Zurich's Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences (D-GESS), specializing in the Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence, Digital Health, and Health Policy. She joined ETH in 2022 after earning her PhD in Political Science from the University of Bern, with additional studies at the University of North Carolina, University of Oslo, and University of Zurich. Her research focuses on AI ethics frameworks, digital health governance, and the societal impacts of war through projects like the Health Ethics & Policy Lab's Health Data and AI course coordination and postdoctoral work on NRP 77 (Digital Health Innovation Governance). As Director of Operations for the ETH AI Ethics and Policy Network, she bridges academic and policy dimensions of emerging technologies. Key research interests include global AI governance, healthcare innovation ethics, and the long-term social consequences of conflict, reflected in publications analyzing post-war societies, public opinion on biotechnology, and international health policy challenges. Her academic background includes multilingual proficiency (Norwegian/Finnish native, German/English fluent), supporting cross-cultural research collaboration. Professional activities include undergraduate course coordination, internship supervision, and contributions to interdisciplinary initiatives like Precise4Q: Predictive Modelling in Stroke. Current academic roles combine teaching (e.g., Ethics Workshop: The Impact of Digital Life on Society in Autumn 2025) with research leadership in AI ethics and health policy domains.
Daniel Vogler is a Senior Research and Teaching Associate and Head of Research at the University of Zurich , affiliated with the Institute of Communication Science and Media Research (IKMZ) . He serves as Deputy Director of the fög – Research Center for Public Opinion and Society , with a career spanning over 15 years in academic communication research. Education: Communication Science, Political Science, and Ethnology at University of Zurich (2003-2013), culminating in a 2020 PhD on Media Reputation of Universities . His research focuses on Journalism Research, Public Relations, Online Communication, Crisis Communication, and Computational Social Science , with notable work on media reputation dynamics, AI's impact on journalism, and crisis-driven norm formation. Recent publications analyze Swiss media ecosystems using automated content analysis and longitudinal studies. Key awards include the 2023 ICA Health Communication Top Paper Award and the 2020 ICA Best Student Paper Award . He contributes to editorial boards of journals like the International Journal of Crisis and Risk Communication Research and co-edits the Yearbook Quality of the Media – Switzerland .
Gabriel Hofmann is a Doctoral Candidate and Lecturer at the University of Zurich, affiliated with the Philosophical Faculty and the Department of Political Science. He is also associated with the Zentrum für Demokratie Aarau (ZDA) and the Institute for Political Science's Policy Analysis & Evaluation division. His work focuses on direct democracy, digital political participation, and the development of e-participation indices. Hofmann teaches courses such as 'Spezialisierung: Direkte Demokratie Schweiz im 21. Jahrhundert' and collaborates on projects analyzing democratic processes in Swiss cantons and internationally. His research interests include measuring digital political engagement, cantonal voting dynamics, and the impact of new technologies on democratic institutions. Recent publications explore e-participation indices, cross-country digital participation case studies (e.g., Germany, Japan, Switzerland), and the evaluation of public policies like Switzerland's food law reforms. Educational Background: MA in Political Science, current PhD candidate at University of Zurich. Key Projects: DigiPartIndex Schweiz (tracking digital participation trends), cantonal referendum analyses, church-state policy evaluations. Affiliations: ZDA Aarau, procivis think tank, and Università della Svizzera Italiana (USI). Hofmann's work bridges academic research with practical policy evaluation, emphasizing Switzerland's unique direct democracy frameworks and digital governance innovations.
Prof. Dr. Jochen Menges is a Professor at the University of Zurich , holding the Chair of Human Resource Management and Leadership within the Department of Business Administration under the Faculty of Business, Economics and Informatics . He serves as Director of the Center for Leadership in the Future of Work and contributes to the DSI Community Work. Research Interests: His work bridges leadership studies , emotional intelligence , mindfulness practices , and digital transformation in work environments. Key areas include charismatic leadership attribution , AI-human collaboration , emotion regulation , and future of work dynamics . Recent Publications: Menges explores how anthropomorphic AI affects workplace emotions, develops VR-based organizational simulations , and investigates the role of awe in leadership perception . His 2024 guest editorial on human-centered future of work emphasizes balancing technological and human needs. Emerging Insights: Studies on emotional responses to AI , mindfulness interventions , and gender dynamics in emotional intelligence demonstrate his focus on emotional and psychological dimensions of modern work. His populist support research connects negative affect with global political trends.
Professor Christian Biener is a faculty member at the University of St. Gallen, affiliated with the School of Economics and Political Science and the Department of Economics. His research focuses on insurance economics, behavioral economics, and risk management, with particular emphasis on topics like cyber risk, microinsurance, health insurance design, and the societal impacts of emerging technologies such as chatbots and telematics. He holds a prominent role in academic and industry discourse through his extensive publication record and contributions to policy-relevant research. Biener’s work bridges theoretical economic analysis with practical applications, addressing challenges in global insurance markets, pandemic response strategies, and the interplay between technological innovation and human behavior. His research has explored how factors like microbiome composition influence economic decision-making, the ethical implications of contact-tracing apps, and the design of effective reinsurance strategies. He actively engages with industry trends, advising on future skills requirements in reinsurance and the balance between privacy and risk hedging in digital environments. His scholarly output spans over a decade, with recent trends emphasizing behavioral aspects of insurance decisions, the impact of global events on healthcare costs, and the transformational role of technology in insurance products. Biener’s articles consistently analyze both micro-level individual decision-making and macro-level market dynamics, offering insights that inform both academic theory and policy formation. While no formal awards are explicitly mentioned, his prolific publication record and institutional affiliation suggest significant recognition within the field. Biener’s work often incorporates experimental methodologies, such as randomized controlled trials, to empirically validate theoretical models. He collaborates across disciplines, integrating insights from psychology, computer science, and public health into his economic analyses. Biener’s current research agenda includes investigating the insurability of novel risks (e.g., cyber threats), optimizing microinsurance programs in emerging markets, and analyzing non-cognitive skills’ role in post-crisis economic recovery. He leads projects at the Institute for Economics (IVW) at HSG, contributing to both academic and applied research initiatives.
